Increase Your Odds of Success in Business with The Art of the Start 2.0 (Book Review)

Do you want to build your own business? If your answer is yes, you can benefit from the wisdom that Guy Kawasaki shares in his newest book, The Art of the Start 2.0: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything.

With a goal to make entrepreneurship easier, Kawasaki achieves that with Art of the Start 2.0, his updated guide on starting a business.

The serial entrepreneur, innovator and author presents this new version that retains most of the material from the first edition that came out in 2004, with new content added and old ones revised to reflect the current business landscape. There’s even a whole chapter now on social media that’s lifted from Kawasaki’s other book, The Art of Social Media (written with Peg Fitzpatrick). Interestingly, the chapter on “The Art of Writing A Business Plan” from the previous edition was junked.

What I find fascinating are the insider information and anecdotes he shares from his encounters with venture capitalists, lawyers, entrepreneurs pitching their businesses to him, Silicon Valley people, and with Steve Jobs.

I got lost in the terminology used in some parts, like the sections on corporate structure, capital structure and venture capitalism. Those parts may be better suited for the reader who wants to build the next Google or focused to become the next big, hot tech start-up.

But the business owner who wishes to start simply by building a sole proprietorship, a coaching practice or a franchise business would do well to learn from Kawasaki’s insights on leadership, product creation, marketing, and giving back to society.

Here are my Key Takeaways from the book:

Entrepreneurship is about doing, not learning to do.

You can only find out what works by experimentation. Don’t wait for perfection. It’s not how great you start – it’s how great you end up.

The genesis of great companies is answering simple questions that change the world, not the desire to become rich. Entrepreneurship is at its best when it alters the future, and it alters the future when it jumps curves.

It’s much easier to evangelize a product that’s rooted in human values.

Exude optimism. Leaders cannot have a bad day. You must always believe that you believe.

To anyone who wants to start a business, increase your odds of succeeding by learning from Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start 2.0.